Shell Nigeria’s Bonga FPSO hits one billion barrel milestone, as Nigerian Govt. targets over $780million immediate revenues

Oredola Adeola

Nigeria’s first deep-water exploration and production vessel, Bonga field floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO), operated by Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo), hit a one-billion-barrel oil export mark on Monday.

This was announced in a statement released by Abimbola Essien-Nelson, SNEPCo, Media Relations Manager, and obtained by EnergyDay on Monday.

According to the statement, the milestone is coming three months after a major turnaround maintenance (TAM) of the facility was completed ahead of schedule.

Bonga, a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel which began operations in 2005 is anchored 120 kilometres offshore in the Gulf of Guinea and has consistently delivered value in national revenue, local capacity development of Nigerian engineers, and funding support to the service industry, in addition to its many social investment programmes in health, education, and sports.

The Bonga FPSO vessel has enjoyed significant expansion over the years with the further drilling of wells in Bonga Phases 2 and 3 and through a subsea tie-back that unlocked the nearby Bonga Northwest field in August 2014. Bonga Northwest can produce approximately 65,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day and was named Engineering Project of the Year 2015 at the prestigious Platts Global Energy Awards in New York.

Elohor Aiboni, Managing Director, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo), described the milestone as a celebration of excellence, leadership, and focused delivery that has brought significant benefits to Nigeria and Nigerians.

Aiboni, SNEPCo’ s first female Managing Director, said “One billion barrels is an exciting milestone. I’m incredibly proud of all of our employees and contractors who’ve contributed to the success of the Bonga FPSO and the attainment of this remarkable achievement.”

Aiboni also attributed the success of Bonga to the supportive partnership with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and SNEPCo’s co-venturers – TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited, Nigerian Agip Oil Company, and Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited.

According to Aiboni, the integrated delivery approach, continuous improvement and the support lever offered by the technological prowess of the Shell Group are the pillars of SNEPCo’s excellent delivery.

“We are building a leading safe, simpler, and cost-disciplined deep-water business that brings value to our partners, shareholders, and Nigeria which remains a heartland for Shell,” she said.

Osagie Okunbor the Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, in his comment on the Bonga billion-barrel milestone, commended the resilience, focus and dedication of the entire SNEPCo team, most of whom are Nigerians.

He said, “I feel a strong sense of pride knowing that today, over 95 percent of SNEPCo staff, including those working on the Bonga FPSO, are trained Nigerian deep-water professionals, who daily contribute their quota, in the development of Nigeria’s deep-water hydrocarbon resources.

“The entire team should be incredibly proud of themselves,” Okunbor said.

Bala Wunti, Chief Upstream Investment Officer of NNPC’s Nigeria Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS), in a congratulatory message to SNEPCo and its co-venture partners, said, “The many successes recorded by Bonga have continued to trigger significant development in Nigeria’s deep-water oil & gas exploration and production.

He said Bonga has a special place in the DNA of Nigeria’s upstream.

Mallam Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer(GCEO) in a statement when he signed the agreements to renew Oil Mining Lease (OML) 118 for another 20 years in 2021, said the investment in the Bonga bloc of around $ 10 billion, which would yield over $780million in immediate revenues to the Federal Government while also freeing the parties from over $9billion in contingent liabilities.

EnergyDay’s checked SNEPCo, is the operator in charge of the Bonga field in partnership with Total, Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deep Water) Limited under a production sharing contract with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The Bonga FPSO vessel , located 120 km (75 mi) southwest of the Niger Delta, became operational in 2005 and has a total production capacity of 225,000 barrels of oil per day and 150 standard cubic feet of gas exported per day.

Bonga alone has produced about 880 million barrels of oil. In 2019, the FPSO improved its availability from 85% in 2018 to 94% in 2019 meaning more production capacity for both Nigeria and Shell’s global deepwater oil production.